Page 90 of The Good Luck Cafe
Gil remembered what Moira had said. If Doug could take care of himself, why shouldn’t he have his own place? “Okay.”
“I spoke to Della Rose already,” Doug said, petting Goldie’s head.
“Wow. What did she say?”
Doug couldn’t seem to hide his smile. “Louise Herman moved out of one of the Somerset Rental Cottages. It’s open, and Della thinks it would be a good place for me. It’s more money than I was planning to spend though.” He narrowed his eyes at Gil from behind his glasses. “Della told me to ask you for a raise.”
Gil chuckled. “Did she now?”
“Yes, and I think I deserve one,” Doug said earnestly. “I also spoke to Jake.”
Gil was surprised at this. “Oh?”
“Jake said that Louise was the dog walker for the Somerset Rental Cottages. I can do that and be your campaign manager too. And live on my own.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought,” Gil said.
“When you want something, you go for it, no matter what. I want this.” Doug took a visible breath. “So?”
Gil hesitated. “So?”
“I want a raise. I want you to talk to Mom for me. And I want you to help me move.”
Gil grinned. “Is that all? Would you like to run for mayor too? Seems like everyone else in town wants that.”
Doug shook his head. “No, you’re the mayor, and you’re a good one. Almost as good at that as you are at being my brother.”
Who could argue with Doug after he’d said that? “Okay. To all of it. I’ll back you up and talk to Mom.”
“Really?” Doug’s eyes lit up behind his glasses. “Thank you, Gilly.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Mom might disown me after our talk.”
“You’d still have me,” Doug said, making Gil’s heart squeeze. What had he ever done to deserve such a loyal and loving brother? He’d do anything within his power to help Doug. Doug would feel part of a community in the close-knit environment at the Somerset Rental Cottages. Why hadn’t Gil chosen one of those cottages as his first place to live after college?
“If I move into my own place, you won’t have to worry about me waking you up all the time,” Doug finally said.
“Truth is, I’ll probably miss that.”
Doug looked at him a moment. “I can drive the golf cart around the lake and still wake you up then.”
Gil laughed out loud. “No, thanks. I won’t miss it that much, Doug.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Moira rolled onto her side and looked at the clock. She couldn’t sleep. Now that she knew her mom didn’t want her to fight for the bakeshop, Moira lay here wondering what she was even fighting for. Her why was gone. Or the why she thought she had, at least. Instead of counting sheep, she’d been staring at the shadows in her bedroom, listing the reasons she had for still wanting to be mayor. And why she didn’t.
There was only one reason that fell in the “didn’t” category. She didn’t want to hurt Gil. They’d already discussed that to death though, and he had assured her that, whatever happened, it wouldn’t affect their relationship. He was a man of his word. She believed that wholeheartedly.
So that left her with at least a dozen reasons to still run for mayor, which surprised her. This had stopped being about saving Sweetie’s Bakeshop a while ago. She’d discovered a side of herself that she’d long suppressed, and it felt good to be taking a stand for her community.
Moira flopped around onto her other side. She wasn’t losing sleep over fears or negative thoughts. She was energized. Excited. About the campaign and also about her new relationship with Gil. Everything was changing in mostly good ways.
On a sigh, because she really did need to get her sleep, she stood and walked into the kitchen for a glass of water. She drank it while watching outside her back window. The moon was full tonight. She stared at it in wonder for a moment. Even the moon and the stars looked different somehow.
Am I falling for him?
Moira stood there with that question. Maybe she was. The air was sweeter. Gil painted her world a brighter shade of all her favorite colors. Wasn’t that how others described falling in love?
